The True Queen
by Sharn Mao
Summary: Companion to "The Red Queen." A little more violent. A little more evil. Updated, so that all those nasty little grammar errors aren't there anymore (hopefully)...


Power. It is a word that I have longed for with every fibre of my being since I came to this world. To Wonderland. It is a hunger in me, an aching, gnawing sensation that tears through me like fire while the traitorous bitch that dwells deep down inside tries to quench it. She is a fool.  
  
I loathe the days when we were of one mind. We were so dull, so ordinary... so disgustingly naïve that once the king came around, we followed him wherever he went. Disgusting. Now, many years later, my other side is torn between blaming the king for this... MESS, or myself. How dare she criticise this world that I have created. And even now she is giving that blundering husband the credit for letting me loose! Fool. I came out on my own, and she was as weak and powerless against me then as she is now. No. I came long before he did.  
  
We are two sides of the blade, she and I. One side is dull and harmless- completely useless. The other end is sharp. It is the one that has a purpose. She is about as much of a threat as the pathetic band of misfits that has formed to stop me. Caution is sensible- but hardly necessary.  
  
One of the guards has come in and reported that Alice is coming, and has killed nearly all of the guards posted in Dementia and a great deal in my Fortress of Doors. She is the one of the prophesy- the only one that can defeat me. I must make sure that does not happen! I must withdraw inside myself; contemplate this situation. I must make sure that she reaches no further than where she is now. I come back. "Alert the centipede and double the ant and ladybug forces. She must get no further." I withdraw again, desperately thinking of how best to lay out my forces.  
  
BOOM! How did Alice come across that damned blunderbuss?! Pain that I have never known rips through myself and I, and I feel that my other side screams for something different about this pain. AND SHE IS HOLDING ME BACK!!! I cannot do this effectively with her constantly interfering... wait. Once Alice beats this pathetic puppet that is the two of us, my weaker self shall die. Unless I kill either Alice-or the dull edge-first.  
  
She is constantly weakening, and I can feel my opportunity for a crushing blow. My claws extend, with a glorious sensation that encompasses that arm... the feeling of lethality. Of POWER. I can feel the fragile threads of Alice's dress, the subtle inertia of ripping flesh, and I revel in Alice's screaming. I am winning. I know it, as does Alice. But so does she. I decide on one of my most powerful attacks-never mind that it drains me somewhat.  
  
I raise my hand, smiling in my triumph, and let loose the power of my green beam. WHAT?! Rather than hitting Alice, it has hit that pillar to her left. I drag my hand back, but it rises as it is about to connect. I know what this means, and I scream in fury. Not because Alice has won this round, but that my dull edge seems to have a rough spot- a rough spot that took the upper hand! My anger grows, a black cloud inside myself that feels good, and I know that I can kill her with it easily. She doesn't notice as the cloud surrounds her, wrenching her life away... and once she is gone, I feel as though I have just been reborn.  
  
I have no further time for thoughts as Alice fires the gun a final time, and once again, the pain rips through my being. But this time it does not stop. It continues, on and on, and I know that this hit means death, and I scream out the agony, the sounds drowning out my pain. Alice turns away in triumph, and I hear her say that she was never afraid. I will make her afraid.  
  
I raise that small piece of myself from the puppet and feel it meld with the rest of me. It was so amusing, seeing that wretched traitor do her best to save Alice. If only she knew that all her efforts were in vain. I smile. Too late now. Any moment, Alice will come through that portal, unprepared and defenceless... poor little bitch. "Off with her head," I say.  
  
Such a sweet feeling. Alice picks herself up, yet again, and I let my left arm fly at her. When it connects, she screams as she flies through the air, landing on a very small nook on the edge of the platform we are on. I sink, letting the black energy down below refresh me, pouring through every limb and tentacle to be had on my body. I start raising myself back up, but meteors of purple energy come crashing down, and I struggle against the coming scream as they sever one of my larger tentacles- one of only two left! NO! I cannot be defeated! "I rule Wonderland alone. Your interference will not be tolerated," I rasp. Alice hesitates. "This realm is for grown- ups; raw, well-ordered, ruthless, careening on the jagged edge of reality. Self-pitying dreamers are not wanted here." Once again, I try the green beam, and it misses once again, this time because my pain blinded me to Alice's rolling, and she stayed out of harm's way. She raises the blunderbuss, but I am faster- she must stay still to fire, making her an easy target for the blue beam. It connects, and I can feel her pain, the ecstasy washing over me. I feel the corners of my mouth lift in a demonic smile. "They cannot survive here."  
  
I feel the need to recharge combining with my ecstasy, and I vow to come up quickly and finish the job. It would take so little effort. I come up, and I feel the pain of my last tentacle being severed. Once again, Alice raises the blunderbuss, but I feel my stomach slithering open, releasing a powerful scream. Alice vanishes from sight. Aah... this is the end. Slowly I sink down, and then I hear grunting. It can't be. Alice survived?!  
  
I come up rapidly, not caring that I am vulnerable once again, and Alice fires with- DAMN- two blunderbusses that have combined into one! The pain is almost unbearable, but I train rockets that were special gifts from the Hatter on her, and let them go. There is no way that they can miss... but NOO!!! That bitch has latched on to Alice and is protecting her!!! Alice has been totally shielded, and raises the gun with difficulty. That blast must have killed the other one, and now she is vulnerable- she can't even aim.  
  
But as she fires, wide to the left, the bullet glows with a peculiar golden energy, and starts changing course, coming at me- no esc-  
  
I fall into the blackness, feeling my life pour away, like sand through an hourglass. Frantically I try to catch them as I hurtle through the abyss, but as they wane, my life does too. "Off with her head," are the last words I hear myself say. 


End file.
